Brilliant Orange

Last night, Spurs beat Forest 3-0 at the City Ground in an FA Cup fifth round replay, and they now join North London neighbours Arsenal in the quarter-finals. Their manager, Martin Jol, who has been credited with the latest Tottenham revival, is suuposedly now the target of Ajax of Amsterdam, who are currently without a coach after the resignation of Dutch legend, Ronald Koeman.

This morning, we learn that Rinus Michels has passed away. Michels, renowned as the principle architect of 'total football', had an astonishingly successful career as a coach, winning league titles in Holland and Spain, the European Cup and the 1988 European Championship. Londonist salutes him.

Michels and the Dutch side he coached in the 1974 World Cup , created a legacy that became known across the globe : the idea that there is a way of playing football that is peculiarly and beautifully Dutch. This used to be something we had to admire from afar, glued to our screens as Cruyff glided across the pitch or Van Basten made an ass out of Tony Adams. But the orange explosion that was the Dutch takeover of London during Euro 96, signalled a new direction. The arrival of Bergkamp and Overmars at Arsenal and the Gullit revolution at Chelsea, showed that there was a place for Dutch magic in the hurly-burly of English football.

So if you ever have the chance, maybe you could pop into the De Hems pub (perhaps when Arjen Robben is strutting his stuff for Chelsea on the telly) in Chinatown and raise a glass to Rinus Michels.